Rahal and Sato Finished Ninth and Tenth in the INDYCAR Grand Prix

RAHAL AND SATO FINISHED NINTH AND TENTH IN THE INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a pretty good car on the reds and were able to get the United Rentals machine up to the front but ultimately on the blacks we really struggled. Everybody did but the time in which we put them on hurt us. And then on the last fuel run, I was hitting the fuel number I was told to hit and came up short. Luckily I ran out in the last corner. If it was before that I would have been a lot more upset. I lost eighth place and finished ninth. That’s the way things go sometimes. We didn’t have quite Dixon’s pace on reds, which is how he got that big gain over us but my guys did a great job in the pits. The got me positions when we needed to and we were able to pass a lot of cars in the race. Overall I can’t complain too much. I’m tired of starting in the back. If we can start in the top-three or top-five even we can make these guys lives really tough. We make it tough for them now but we’re doing it from 17th. We need to start up front and make it really tough on them. I’m confident in that, confident in my team. We just have to get the job done in qualifying.”

FAST FACTS:He started 17th and lost a few spots on the start when he was boxed in but remained 17th after a few cars made contact or fell back before a full course caution for contact between Pigot and Sato. He pit to top off on fuel during the caution and returned to the track in 16th. Once the pit cycle started, he moved up to third before he made his second stop on Lap 23. He returned to the track in 11th before he briefly cycled into the lead on Lap 43 for three laps before he made his third stop on Lap 46. He returned to the track in eighth place but lost two positions while on the black, primary Firestone tires. He moved to ninth when Newgarden made contact with Bourdais and brought out a caution when he stopped on track. Rahal and the majority of the field pitted during the caution and he was able to get back on the red alternate tires that suited his car more. During the stop, he gained a position to return to eighth place. He was able to maintain the position until the final lap where he ran out of fuel exiting the final corner and coasted across the finish in ninth. The 2018 Grand Prix of Indianapolis was Graham Rahal’s fifth Indy car race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His highest finish here is second place and his highest start is eighth although he qualified third in 2016 but his car was disqualified for being underweight. In five events, he has four top-10 finishes of second (2015), fourth (2016), sixth (2017) and 9th (2018). Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He dropped from being tied for third in the standings to sixth with 142 points, only 10 out of third place.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I made quite a good start. I overtook four cars minimum at the end of Turn 1. I was probably P6 in Turn 2 or 3. However, we were side by side with Pigot in Turn 4, which was good, and then we went to the first chicane Turn 5 still side-by-side and unfortunately he tried to go too wide and he ran out of road. Instead of avoiding the curb inside, he just launched it by himself and basically hit me while airborne and that was it, I went to the back. After that I think we had a good car on the red tire but on the black tire I think we probably made a mistake and went backwards significantly. Then we had a good fight back in the end on red tires. In the end I think tenth is not the best but I think it’s good for the team that our two cars just made the top-10. It was an okay weekend.”

FAST FACTS: Sato started 11th and gained multiple positions at the start but was hit by Pigot, who went airborne in Turn 6 and later received an avoidable contact penalty. Sato immediately pitted to check for damage and top off on fuel while 20th. He later worked his way up to 14th by Lap 16 when he passed Kimball. He cycled up to sixth by the time the team called him to the pits for his second stop on Lap 23 and he returned to the track in 17th place. He immediately reported that his car was “super loose” on the primary Firestone tires and steadily dropped to 23rd by the time the team called him in to change back to red, alternate tires on Lap 38. He steadily began to make up ground by passing cars and was in 18th by Lap 58 of 85. By Lap 70 of 85 he was in 11th and passed Claman de Melo for 10th on Lap 81 and held the position until the checkered flag. He made his best start of 11th place, which forced him to Earned his best start at the IMS road course with 11th place today. The 2018 IGP will be Takuma’s fifth race here. His previous best start is 14th – two times (2017, 2014) and his best finish is ninth in 2017 with Andretti Autosport. In his previous race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he won the 101st Running of the Indy 500 with Andretti Autosport… Has TWO IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval) and SEVEN poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval).He moved from 14th to 13th in series point standings with 90 points.

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